The expert report on the evidentiary incident for the death of Domenico Caliendo after a failed transplant has been filed

The report on the evidentiary incident on the death of Domenico Caliendo, the almost two and a half year old child who died on 21 February after a failed heart transplant at Monaldi, has been filed with the investigating judge of Naples. On 23 December 2025 the organ arrived from Bolzano damaged by dry ice. Seven health workers investigated for attempted manslaughter

The three experts appointed by investigating judge Mariano Sorrentino delivered the report in the early afternoon of today which will have to clarify what happened between the transplant and the death of little Domenico Caliendo, at Monaldi in Naples. At work since March 3, the experts reconstructed the child's entire medical history by answering the questions posed by the judge. At the moment, nothing filters out regarding the conclusions.

The story

Domenico Caliendo was almost two and a half years old when, on December 23, 2025, he underwent a heart transplant at the Monaldi hospital. The organ had arrived from Bolzano, but during the transfer it had been stored incorrectly: refrigerated with dry ice and placed in a refrigerator box that did not comply with the guidelines. The low temperatures had compromised the heart, making it effectively unusable. The surgery was performed anyway. The child died on February 21 from the consequences of that transplant.

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Domenico case, the investigating judge: serious clues for the two suspended doctors

The judge's questions

The expert opinion answers a series of questions posed by the judicial authority. The investigating judge first asked the three professors (Biagio Solarino, Ugolino Livi and Ferdinando Luca Lorini) to verify the conditions in which the transplanted organ was found and whether it presented anatomical or functional alterations attributable to errors by the team that carried out the sampling in Bolzano or the one that carried out the transplant in Naples. Also under scrutiny was the choice to proceed with the operation anyway despite the fact that the heart was now damaged by the cold.

Treatment after the transplant

The checks also concern the phase following the intervention. The judge asked to evaluate the doctors' conduct while the child was connected to the ecmo in Monaldi's intensive care unit. A specific point concerns the decision not to use the Berlin Heart, the so-called extracorporeal artificial heart: according to the family's lawyer and his consultants, that device could have offered Domenico greater possibilities in view of a second transplant.

The suspects and the appeal

Seven health workers are currently under investigation for attempted manslaughter. Among them the heart surgeons Guido Oppido and Emma Bergonzoni, already condemned by the investigating judge Sorrentino for having falsified the child's medical records. Tomorrow, before the Review judges, the appeal presented by their defenders against the disqualification measures imposed in June will be discussed: 12 months for Oppido, 7 for Bergonzoni.